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Dialing Numerals
Dialing and Calling Through the waters of the New World rumbled in the name of the recent events, a fleet of ships led by the Numerals themselves soared across these same waters. Some of them, after all, decided to converge after the battle in Aurora. "BIRURURURUUUU!" Willahelm Bill sung into the breezing ocean, tongue rolling out of his mouth as it dripped with booze. Many of the O.G Pirates stood behind him, since he could be found at the uttermost front of their ship's deck, the ship known as The OG. Bill had no alterations to his appearance, though, his hat was not atop his head, "Where we headin'?!" He asked. The first to speak was Billie, one of the crew's elite. "I'm... not s'sure meself?" He glanced over a map with his single eye. "Dunno' where the... um, Mimes, Sirens, or even that Dandy dude're going... I feel like we in familiar waters." Though he said that, Billie took a look at the other ships by their sides. "O-" Bill ran over Billie, knocking him into one of the ship's masts, and reached out of the deck. "Y'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL!!" Waves got pushed away and ships rocked at the birth of such a voice. "WHERE Y'ALL GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOIN'?!" "Rip me fuckin' ears," Willy snarled from the other side of the deck, figure hunched over it as some puke made its way out of his mouth. Behind him, Willie's large hand patted his back, whose lips were curved down and eyes watery. "FORWARD YOU SLEEPING DRUNK!" Dapper Dan yelled back, his temper still very flared by the events of the recent days. "Clearly I'm not going to SLEEP while there is a BATTLE going on or ANYTHING like THAT!" "We're following along, Bill-san." Skelton Red spoke, seemingly composed, but within him was a fair degree of anger. However, as the Mime of the Numerals, he could not afford to lash out like the other members, but admittedly, his head was already exploding with the noise Bill projected. Although his voice would feel like it couldn't project, he had blared it through a megaphone on his ship, because of his crew's nigh-inability to shout. Aretha herself did not spoke to her comrades: her path instead was heralded by her notoriously horrendous singing, which had reached whole new levels of awfulness and volume. Normally, such display would led her colleagues to try and shut her mouth by force, but there was an objective reason behind her singing, one easy to understand just by rising oneself's sight above. An enormous shadow, so large and so thick it could be mistaken for a makeshift night, had fallen upon the Numerals, caused by an object of nearly indescribable size, a mass of jutting rocks spanning for over a thousand of square miles in every direction that Aretha was lifting above the fleet. She was not moving by her personal vessel; instead, she was holding the gargantuan rock all by the strength of her two arms and the power of thousands of cheers, as her red flare aura could indicate. Her walking on hair was made possible by applying her Harmonia, summoning platforms at every step and enforcing them with the utmost strongest Haki so they won't break under the weight. As for the Siren Pirates, they were being approached by a mere and relatively more modest vessel; a minor sight only by comparison though, cause that enormous cruise was shimmering in opulence, hosting the entirety of a hotel. The eldest of Aretha's daughters, the Siren Four, Molpe the crafty, blared through her megaphone to make sure that her point is made across amidst her mother singing. "I apologize on my mother's behalf for the lights out", the half Siren shouted. "You all know we need as many fans as we can to fully empower my mother, and there was no time to evacuate the entirety of Bohemia". If Muhammad won't evacuate the mountain, he would just scoop it whole and fetching it along. An iron-clad display of logic. Bill opened his mouth to laugh into everyone's ears, they complained about his loudness? That just prompted him to inhale even more air. However, the sound of... artificial waves had him stopping dead in his tracks. Artificial... waves? How could it even be possible for some common being to differ man-made from naturally ocurring ones? A presence loomed over the seas, four pairs of shining eyes glancing over the entire fleet. In the blink of an eye, several ships rocketed through the sky, leaving grand circles over the water's surface. "Eh?!" Willie's features almost fell off his face once he looked up, hand leaving Willy's back, much like the others, his vision was sharp enough to let him locate objects even under this large shadow. A stream of colors blitzed through the ocean. What he saw had been the suspended ships of the many Numerals, masts hanging from the bottom of the land that Aretha held. Large drops of water fell from the rear of the ships, ships which rocked from left to right, shouts of many people came through the air. Appearing out of the ship's mast, Billie yelled, "Wha' the fuck-" Shortly before the O.G's ship shot upward. "UOOOOOOOOOOOH BOOOOOYYYYYYYYY!" Bill sung with a full blown smile, all of his crew's bodies, including his own, pressed against the floor of the deck. Currents of wind soared by the ship, wind that was ripped apart by its ascension. A second after, The OG's mast pierced into the soil of Aretha's land, dust falling off from it. "So, like-" Billy stepped out of the ship's quarters, appearance in a mess. However, he also crashed against the floor in a loud thump, along with everyone else... Again. The color streams smashed against the island's bottom, ten bulky white fingers sunk into it in a gripping motion, its very surface cracked in various directions. The figure bent their neck forward, lowering their head, and flexed their shoulders, blood burst through all their veins, filling their entire body. Blue flared from the figure, then yellow showered over the air, red cut through, and... purple oozed, in order, they surrounded one another, acting as some sort of violent propulsive. At that very second, the figure's legs expanded with several veins, they beat them together, another quake befell the atmosphere, then, the ships, likely even Aretha, and the whole island, all erupted in various rumblings. "ROMAN NUMERALS!" A voice yelled from within the many auras, pertaining to the bulky figure. The island seemed to ascend even faster, provoking a small sonic boom below it. "YOU ALL HAVE A MEETING TO ATTEND TO!!!" The whole island continued to surge through the atmosphere, causing an extremely wide gust of wind, that formed like some sort of barrier around the island, as if trying to resist. Two pillars of water seemed to push against the bottom as well, though they weren't very large. The shadow, previously cast over just the fleet of the Numerals, expanded several times due to the abrupt ascension, the figure's muscles budged out more than ever, oozing aura. After a dozen seconds, sunlight filled everyone's eyes, white stood below everything and everyone, the irritating sound of wind being tore through stopped. In a single whip of water, which came from the pillars, all of the Numerals' ships got shot off the island's bottom, landing softly upon the clouds. "You can drop it, it won't get past the clouds, Aretha..." The figure spoke, a bit far from her, "Inform everyone to meet inside Bohemia." They blurred and dug into the soil, causing an explosion of dust to shoot off the island's bottom. As the ship rocked and waved, and Red saw the ships of the other Numerals fly upwards, and he stepped out of the inner cabin. He was shocked at the sight. All of the Numerals' ships had been slammed into an island's bottom, which itself was raised to the clouds...?! That explained the rainbow of color he saw. Suddenly, everything made sense. The absurd strength, the magnitude of this man's voice, it could only belong to one person. "Cain D. Abel...!" Red had always disliked Abel. For someone who wasn't affiliated with any of the Xros Pirates' core divisions to dare lord themselves over the Numerals was insulting to say the least. However, the crux of the issue was, that Abel could lord over them without hesitation. He was strong, stronger than even himself. It angered Red to no end. Of course, right now, even he couldn't escape from this situation. Begrudgingly complying to the demands of Abel, Red stepped off his ship and began walking to the place where Abel was last seen moving. He assumed that the other Numerals would move as soon as they realized the situation they were in. "BIIIIIIIIRURURURURU!!" Bill's figure shot out of his own ship and landed over the cloudy surface, bouncing a bit, "Sooooooftyyyyy." He fell over his stomach several times, before the bouncing went stronger and his back pressed instead. Quickly, he was back on his feet with an "yippie". "Cap'n!" Billy rose from the trashed ship alongside the other Temporarili, all of them looked messy. "We request ye' don't request us to go-" Billy pointed towards Bohemia, "-there!" Willie, Willy, and Billie nodded rapidly. Bill rose one of his eyebrows, but still laughed off. "BIRURURU! The fuck ye' guys on?!" What was all that desperation for, this was just Abel. Then, Bill looked around at the other Numerals. "So we all goin' in?!" Calling and Singing "From the get go..." A resident of Bohemia sweated visibly, a woman in her forties, glancing at someone in a large plaza. A melody breezed through her body, though no wind flew by, only the whispers of a warrior's aura, "I knew it would be this man... this presence..." The woman swallowed dryly, a citizen stood closer to the figure. Feet slidded repeatedly against the soil. A young boy ran to the woman once he spotted her, "Mayor Danica! Everyone seems to be safe," The woman was the Leader of one of Bohemia's districts, as the whole island was basically a city. Danica spared a short look at the boy, "Greetings Andel." Did that boy really need to come out of hiding every time there was some sort of ruckus? Before they both continued to talk, another voice got their attention. The man Danica saw standing close to the fountain, he was middle aged as well, someone that Danica recognized to be August. He and a crowd of people surrrounded a fountain, chatter coming from them. "We saw it with our very eyes, Cain-san!" August spoke and eyed the large figure of Cain D. Abel, another ally of the Xros Pirates. The latter sat atop the fountain, hands resting close to his knees, and pose straight. "The fight that shook tis' isle!!" "Yeah!" "August says the truth." "If only we weren't there...!" Many citizens spoke. Before even looking at August, Abel pouted at the visage of shiny textures over his legs. "Damn, I wet my legs..." Water gushed out of the fountain after all, ringing a nice sound when it brushed by his limbs. Young and casually clothed, a woman that Danica remembered to be August's niece, Cecilie, took a step forward. "Aretha-sama and her crew were willing on giving their lives for us!" Cecilie cupped her chest with a hand, eyes and mouth wide while she pleaded. More citizens cheered, "Aretha-san is precious!" "The Sirens fought bravely." "Red Feather cheated!!" Abel shook his legs and closed his eyes, "It's nice though." He told himself and smiled at the water on his limbs. Some of the citizens before him gritted their teeth, letting a gasp come out of their mouths. Once that happened, everything quieted down, Andel blinked at the scene. "...Appreciated," Abel opened his eyes and brought a hand to his chest. To speak, August rose a finger and opened his mouth, yet, he and the crowd were abruptly cut off and nearly blasted away by singing. "Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium!! Wir betreten feuertrunken, Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!!!" Abel's mouth was even wider than theirs, letting out his loud but humming voice, like he had just summoned a crowd of angels whose voices were to make humans deaf. Dust erupted and crumbled from everywhere, the whole island shook by his voice. A boy stood admist the crowd, everyone protected their ears with their palms, gritting their teeth and shutting their eyes. That same boy decided to try and shout. "I KINDA MISS THE DARKNESS!!" Everything had stopped. The boy opened his eyes, had his voice actually gotten through all of the other sounds? No way... Still, everyone seemed to be looking at him, even Abel. Swallowing a lump of saliva, the boy started, "Uh-" Except, Abel wasn't even atop the fountain anymore, rather, he stood in the middle of the crowd. Almost everyone turned around with a fright, faces littered with sweat. "Three things." Abel held out three fingers, "You lot said things I like to hear more than once," Everyone shifted their attention from the boy to Abel. Without even bothering on their gaze, Abel continued. "You've valued all the Sirens, not just Hikaru Aretha," He crossed his arms, "And now you've talked about the man responsible for this, a nickname and a power!" Abel opened them suddenly, creating a gust of wind. "Not at any point you held Hikaru Aretha in a bad light for failing you!" As if on cue, water streams burst from several directions behind him. Though, in truth, they had been summoned. Abel lowered his arms, "Aaaah, plumbing problems!" Water cascated over him and everyone as small droplets. Before the water could touch the ground, all droplets stopped mid-air. The water drops, scattered randomly through the entire place, refracted the rays of light coming from the Sun, shining like small diamonds in a static display. From the flowing water, portions of it started to take form in the shape of small fishes that swimmed on air above the heads of the crowd in a beautiful dance, gathering in an enormous shoal that descendend and cirulated the fountain, without touching or wetting a single individual that was present there. This unusual phenomenon scared, but also amazed the people of Bohemia. The fishes and water drops created a scenario that could only be seen under the rampaging waves of the seas - a scenario that only few men had the luck to admire; and a scenario that the one behind its creation was well acquainted of. As they approached, their figure started to form on the distortion of the water fishes; a large and voluptuous silhouette - a woman. Such was her beauty that the entire spectacle of water had no longer the appeal it had seconds ago; in fact, its presence was completely ignored the closer she was from the crowd - every single person, woman and man alike, had their eyes glazed on her. Her clothes and hair floated in the wind just like water in the ocean; every piece of jewel that she had on her body shined like the most precious pearl. Her smile conquered the hearts of men and women; and her eyes, her light-colored eyes, had looks just for the one that she loved - Cain. Aquaria, with her trident on hand, touched the tip of its handle on the ground. All the fishes dived into the fountain, eating the static droplets before doing so. She got closer and closer, walking through the path that was formed as people moved away. Their eyes and heads followed every step of her, and she stopped just a few centimeters away from Cain. She looked up, searching for the face of the towering man, with just a faint smile on hers. With her arms rested, she held her trident horizontally in front of her body. "Having fun without me?" She said, her voice sounding just as beautiful as she was. “AND I HAVE THREE MORE THINGS TO ASK TO BOTH OF YOU, YOU MONGRELS!!!” Finally, the tone of the Dreadful Diva herself boomed throughout the plaza, carrying the weight and authority it befitted a marauder of her stature and temperament. She had appeared in the middle of the crowd, leaving rings of air pressure behind springing at her steps of entrance. Her figure stood tall, powerful, shrouded in a massive bonfire of pure cheering power: a manifestation of the gratitude and love people had for herself, yet it also brimmed of rage and fear. The aura surrounding her was incredibly thick and extremely vivid in color, sending bright shadows over the scattered and fearful crowd and almost shrouding her frame in its entirety if it wasn’t remarked by the dark outline of Haki. Cold, heavy silence fell on the once jolly atmosphere, washing away the pleasant charm that Aquaria has brought to the mood. Fury and scorn, black and red, were the dominant hues in the place, leaving everything overpowered but a bit of purple, peeking from Aretha’s luscious, if a bit ragged purple dress, and that of the Siren’s four tugging on her, desperately trying to stop her mother from doing something extremely, reckless, dangerous and stupid. “Please mom, Cain was actually complimenting on you…” the eldest one acted out, being the reliable one among the bunch, her mouth filled with crimson flames. “NOT NOW, HONEY!” She bellowed. Windows shattered like glass; innards turned into frozen lumps. “This is a matter of HONOR, both personal and familiar!” One step at a time, she came closer to the powerful couple. Slowly and methodically, breaking off the ground and causing tremors that were sharking the floating island through their very core. Danica and August looked at the flaring woman with faces as pale as ghosts: they knew there was a sacred tenet in force, that no one could give praise and love to anybody but the Sirens, yet the duo overwhelming presence and tremendous charm and them forget their concern, if for an instant. Being just a boy, Andel had trouble understanding that concept; nonetheless, unholy terror was stirring up inside him. “First of all, Abel, how fucking dare you lifting up MY island in the air like it was some kind of a pebble found on a nearby shore!” Aretha pointed out at Abel. To be honest though, for warriors of Abel’s caliber, small to medium-sized islands were truly little more than pebbles, things they could play with and break like kids with their toys. The Siren Four knew that, and Aretha would remember that if she weren’t so pissed off. Among the New World, even among the Xros Pirates, Abel was a league on its own when it came to power and infamy. The Numerals were no match for him, normally, except that Aretha was both massively boosted by her people veneration and bloody furious. Molpe knew that, and she didn’t want to begin thinking on what could ensue from an all-out fight between demigods. She stared at her younger adopted sister, the half-mink Raidne, who gave off a similarly mortified look. Teles and Thelxiope, normally the two more confident of Aretha’s child, were both chilling of fear. “Second,” Aretha’s anger grew stronger, it turned her voice in a growl. “Who the fuck gave you to right to stand there, rising up my water, giving speeches to the public, SINGING AND TRY CHARM OFF MY FANS!!! It is me who is the Diva, the goddess here! I would not let you sully my name and let you appeal to my beloved people with your snake-oil charms and two-cent performances! We’ve got a reputation for grand performances, goddammit” She gave a particularly piercing glance to the lovely Aquaria, oozing of the acridest poison. “And the third thing… the most important of all… my greatest question…” Aretha took a deep breath. Her daughters, the people of Bohemia followed suit, for at this point only something truly catastrophic could transpire for this event. Instead… her tone turned immediately sugary and sweet. “''Would you like to abandon this midget of a woman and take one of my beloved babies as your wife''?” Aretha picked up her sweet babies, her half-paralyzed Sirens, presenting them to Abel like a flowery bouquet. The quartet tried to give their widest smile, to their expression was less like “''Hi, would like to go with on a date''” and more like “''please, don’t murder us and wreck this place like a nut...” The rest of the people tripped over the feet, thudding all at once. It was much like a show, a live show, yes, something that completely had him shifting his attention almost instantly. He rolled his eyes to the side while a smile plagued his face, head threatening to turn around and give a look over the majestic figure that made herself present. Though Abel opened his mouth to respond a voice he knew almost too well, he found his words swallowed and swarmed by a tsunami of bellows. At the large footsteps, his hair budged slightly, while his frame remained static, in fact, Abel's smile also remained on his face. Even when faced with all her complaints, with her exploding fury, Abel crossed his arms and let his ears take in everything voiced out by Hikaru Aretha. She was a musician, their worst torture would be not being capable of expressing through sounds. However, at the time that Aretha and her children were to stand face to face with Abel, with the proposal of all things, his figure was... distant? Dust flew briefly where he once stood, leading towards where he stood then. Behind Aquaria. "I decline!!" He pointed from behind her, raising a gust of pressure, "Cheating is not something that appeases-" Abel brought his hand back and forth four times, "-any bit of me. BUT, I do recognize all your complaints," A cough, "Let me just address this first." Then, Abel's hands flew to grasp Aquaria's shoulders, an easy feat given their physical proximity and height difference. "May I ask you why did you leave Nod?" From a distance, numerous invisible projectiles were thrown towards Abel's towering figure. They littered the sky, with the sun refracting off them so perfectly they almost resembled the arc of a rainbow. The person that threw them had soon come into view. Skelton Red, wearing his signature mask, was present, appearing as if he were throwing a ball up and down into his palm. It was evident that he was the one responsible for the bright rainbow that sought to envelop Abel. They were harmless projectiles, though, mere pebbles if anything. But they were declarations of Red's intent, that he was fed up with the pointless conversation. Even without his face visible to the world around him, those who knew of his sadistic repute would cower in fear, for that was the nature of his presence. With the unnerving smile on his mask, he looked towards Abel, internally groaning at the situation that was occurring before him. Aquaria blushed when Abel's enormous hands rested on her shoulders. The feeling almost made her lose her composure and fall towards his body, but due to the circumstances, she couldn't give up on her posture when facing Aretha. The three individuals that had just appeared didn't pose much of a threat to her relationship; as previously stated by her own lover, both of them had commited to their love, and the mutual feeling between both parts held them strong. Even so, Aretha's words had some impact on Aquaria's pride, especially in her way of rulling. The audacity to accuse her of stealing someone's people was preposterous and it made her grew in rage; she held her trident with such strength that her fingers started to sink in the metal. "If you are afraid of losing your people, then it means that you're not fit to be a ruler." She said. However, before she could continue, the feeling of upcoming danger made her act quickly. Although she could barely see what was coming, the maliciousness of the one behind the attack made their intentions clear and the attack easier to defend. With a single stroke of her trident, the water on the fountain bursted out in an arc, creating a flowing barrier over Abel, the people of Bohemia and Aretha and her sisters as well. The projectiles, when caught in it, were washed away in the same direction as the water flowed, redirected into the ground. Eyes briefly noticing Aquaria's tight hold on her trident, Abel opened his mouth, but the former beat him to it. Damn, she really struck high in regards to being a ruler, "Oh, but-" Rainbows enveloped his vision, prompting his eyes to brighten, "Don't worry-" The water had surged upon Aquaria's command and defended him from whatever had come. Hit by the projectiles, the ground erected some dust. "See, they were a simple attack," Abel gestured at the soil and cupped Aquaria's cheek. "Red!!" Abel waved at the other newcomer, passing between Aquaria and Aretha, who stared at each other between their words. Arms opened, he stopped a few meters from Red, "Why don't I see a island above your shoulder? Where is Dandy and that other one?" He looked behind him by tilting his head to the side, "I don't see Flounder and Maaka either." Aretha's eyes, bloodshot by mingled use of Kenbunshoku Haki and her own still smoldering rage, whipped to Red for a second, piercing with a murderous glare, then turned out vacant. She encompassed as a first the entirety of Bohemia with her aura; then she blew it up, as if it was a bubble, grazing the ocean below for hundreds and hundreds of miles. Among the myriad of souls checked- many of which were still feeding the Diva with love and praise, mostly genuine, if certainly encouraged- she could find Flounder close to his ship. But Maaka... what those monsters ever did to Maaka? The apple of Vincenzo's eyes, his precious, beloved baby? Her aura was completely absent, no matter how hard she looked for her, far wide. Aretha cupped her mouth for the horror, the very idea of something happening to an adorable child shaking her motherly chords to the core. "M-aaka... i-s n-ot he-re..." Aretha stuttered. Tears were already falling copious from her eyes, two big waterspouts. The paleness of her face, left bare the retreat of her black Haki, was plain to see, further underlined by the vivid crimson of here cheering powers. Wreathed in flames, Aretha’s had gained the semblance of Banshee, finally matching the awfulness of her voice to some extent. “She was such a sweetheart… they all deserve to pay…” Well, except Kerrim, but better not to mention such fact in public. “THE ALL WILL DIE!!!” Soundwaves poured from her voice to an extent unheard off, reverberating through the depth of the island and tearing the airborne clouds completely bare. Maaka was truly a wonderful child, never making ugly and stupid comments about her voice that little ones, blessed as they were, were used making. How much in ache Aretha’s heart was everything she had to give to give those adorable runts a proper spanking for their own good… and how much well-behaved children were rare to find… “Well,” Aretha snorted. “It seems we are down by at least 2 members. I hate to admit it, but those damned hoodlums have inflicted a serious blow to our organization. According to the news,” she took out a piece of the News Coo, “Gambi Vincenzo was taken down by the government dogs and now he’s been thrown right in the brig. If we want to take our boss back on business, we gotta storm through the gates of Impel Down and opening it up like a can of tuna”. Red was initially angry at Abel addressing his name, and was about to yell at the man before he heard of the fate that befell their comrade. A sadness came above him. He had played with Maaka a lot when she was younger, and to see her go was terrible. There was an anger within him, but also a sense of pleasure. Not only did he have the motive to go out and destroy those so-called "Black Ops", but he would ''relish in taking revenge for Maaka and Vincenzo, second by second. But before that, he had to calm down Aretha. "Don't be rash, Aretha." Red told the Siren, "First, let's recuperate and witness how the world moves. Remember, the others have gathered on Canworth. We may find an opportunity between this chaos." "He's right," Dan said from a post towards the edge of the square. The man had silently been standing on top of the post this entire time, watching the exchange. "The Marines will be weakened after the ambush at Canworth, not to mention whatever the retribution that Legs will dish out for the death of her son. We'll get Vincenzo back if we have to level Impel Down. But only when we're ready for it." "Impel Down?" Abel let the words come out of his mouth mindlessly, he looked at Aretha and motioned for Red and Dan, "Good to see you two agree, you should as well, Siren." He was fully turned to her, arms crossed in front of his chest. Tilting his head, Abel allowed his smile to drop out of his expression, "Given that you almost lost your battle against the invading forces of the Hoodlums, do you think you are in condition for a raid?" Crack, crack, Abel tilted his head to both sides several times, his bones creaked. "I assume that all of you saw what happened to Maaka... what about the Fishman then?" Surely they weren't forgetting another of their own members, Abel kept on asking, waving one of his hands while the other remained stationary. "And what of these combatants that you fought? The Bohemians mentioned a man of the dark..." "His name is Mauricio Kerrim, Abel-sama". Molpe stepped in, her voice still cracking for the immense pressure those powerful combatants had just put on the island. "Captain of the Cheeky Pirates, ranking among the most promising rookies of his generation. Alas, a masterful user of his shadowy Logia powers, despite his young age". She clenched her fist, veins bulging from her fists and temples, the latter sprouting from her violet sunglasses like roots. Shame and scorn ached still sharp within the woman "That bastard single-handedly cuffed the inhabitants of Bohemia, hurt my mother, hurt my little sister and almost jammed my head into the ground into blood past. We brought him and his acolytes to the brink of defeat, but he ain't dead yet, and if we face each other another time..." Singing and Planning "I'll kill him by myself. That's a matter of pride and honor". Aretha interrupted her daughter. She spoke with a calm, stoic pitch, a far cry from the howling hag that mere moments before was on the verge of drowning Bohemia in her screams. Too much of abrupt change, one could argue, though she still carried the coldness and cruelty befitting her fame. In truth, she harbored no desire to kill the young man, not before having fully repaired the debt she had with Ishanna, Kerrim's late adoptive mother, deceased under tragic circumstances. That feeling had to stay buried within, for Aretha was sure none of her peers would have spared a second before sending Kerrim to his grave, had they the occasion; sadistic pricks like Red would have doubled down on the pleasure just to spite her further. So, another shockwave rippled from her frame, fracturing the ground around and feeling the atmosphere with chilling gales and squalls, while her gaze flipped on the presence with murderous intensity. "He. is. mine. And if you get in my way, I'll rip your fucking head off and use it as an ashtray. Capisce?" "Kerrim?" Abel said, blinking a few times, he moved casually to over where Molpe stood and simply petted her head for a second. "You're really helpful," He managed a smile and moved back, so that he was facing the Numerals yet again, Aretha held back no fiber of her being when expressing such rage and desire for revenge. Revenge, huh. In one thing she had been right, maybe the others would have indeed went in for the kill, though, Abel was now more curious. "I'm sure that all of your sisters and the other crews share this sentiment." After all, they were simply guarding their territories, minding their own businesses, those who attacked- Oh, right. "A moment though," Abel frowned, glancing at each present, "So those mentioned in the newspaper, the three Super Rookies... would be under an alliance?" Questions to ask, people to seek, Abel felt his smile creeping into his expression. Scourge, Feather, and Popstar. "If that's the case, I-" Before further words left Abel's mouth, his eyes widened and his head shot backwards, met with a sudden figure head-on. In a sonic boom, Abel flew through the street much like a rocket, causing an explosion once his back landed over the side of a large building, dust filled its surroundings. "BIRURURURUUUUUUU!" Willahelm Bill's laughter sang for the first time since earlier, all of the Numerals had been there, except for him. He just waited for the perfect opportunity for a greeting. "Captaaaaaaaaaain~ How was that?!" His yellow teeth appeared under the sunlight, clicking together as he laughed and spoke. Both his eyes directed towards where Abel had landed, looking out of his smashed figure, "Oh." But they saw nothing, then, they slightly shifted upwards. Above him was Abel's flickering figure, shooting down towards Bill. "YOU BRUTE!!" Abel spat at him, eyebrows pressed inwards and mouth wide. When they were close, Abel hunched his neck and pressed his forehead against Bill's own in a mighty meeting, the impact instantly recoiled over himself and his head shot back, body's momentum stopping mid-air. Bill smiled even as his figure distorted its form backwards, his whole body shot and smashed into the very ground, the entire block seemed to quake, tilting slightly. Several cracks reverbered through the stone of the soil, reaching even some houses. "You are not speaking to Seth," Abel yelled again, landing on the street softly, he spat something red to the side. "Oh, ohhhh! BIRURU," Bill laughed again, palming his slightly bloody forehead, with a small jump, he got off the small debris on the soil. Landing softly as well, Bill continued to question, "Which one are you today then?! If not the old hag." "Nona." "Ey?" "Nona' your business." "BIRURURURURURURURURURU!!" Bill's laughter continued to roar, though they stood amongst all of the other Numerals and were supposed to be having a serious discussion. "Bill, are you ever serious? Stop dandying about and do something for once." Dan announced again with anger in his voice. "After all, as much as I hate having Abel around to boss us around, if you hadn't been dastardly sleeping, Vicenzo would still be here, Amaaka might not be gone, and Flounder wouldn't be floundering about like the dandyable fish he is." The old man straightened his necktie once more as he calmed himself down. "Despite being the leader, Dexter isn't a threat. The damnable brat hid behind the back of Yaanbaal and had to ambush Vicenzo to accomplish anything. I'd say he's the weakest leader in that group that ambushed us. Next time we meet, he's deader than a damnable dip. You'd have to ask about the other two from others, Abel. I had my hands full with the warlord until both ran away. And I can't teleport like the kid, couldn't reach Vicenzo until it was already over. Or there would have been a damnable toll to pay. That's my thoughts on the matter." Red sighed at the antics of Bill and Abel. Normally, Red refused to talk at their gatherings, but today he was forced to. "That man, Kenshiro." He began to speak, although he doubted that he commanded that much attention from the others, given that he was the youngest present. "The only reason I did not concretely defeat him was a lack of compatibility. If anyone else was his opponent among us, he would have been crushed instantly." Red sighed at his lack of ability, clenching his fist. "He's not weak, though. He has tricks up his sleeve...but he's naive. Every trick he makes can be read through. Unfortunately, he's a lot like me. He prefers to see his enemies crushed slowly. It's our greatest weakness, but also our greatest strength. Although..." Red's eyes flashed beneath his mask. "If we meet again, I won't put on a pathetic performance like that again." Abel frowned at Dan's complaint and instantly stretched his fingers, pointing them at Dan while smiling and nodding his head. "BIRURURURURURU!" Bill held his belly and spread his legs shoulder-length apart. "Tru tru, I ain't." He swipped his face with his left forearm to clean some tears, Bill patted his belly and coughed. "Don't tha' just show careless we... nay, Vince was?! Ey' operation like tha' shouldn't fuck us up!" He roared out at them and opened his arms wide, stomping over the pavement with his hulking form. Stretching out his fingers, Bill used his other hand to point at each. "Be't those hatters, that fuckstar, they-" Stars shone from within Bill's eyes and took on a green color, his smile widened and his arms flunged. "-THEY ALL BE BASKIN' IN THEIR GLORY RIGHT NOW BIRURURU! D'ya bitches know what that means?!" "You mean that they have grown more complacent? Sloppier?" Aretha pointed out the most obvious solution. However, she wasn't sure Bill was thinking exactly like that: though he was an immensely powerful and skilled Master with Haki, over half a century of fighting had left the man with a very... peculiar disposition. If Aretha had to be honest with herself, she was a shining beacon of normalcy and grace among the Numerals, a diamond among coals. What party in the high society would not welcome her with open arms and a carpet made of soft servants' hide to properly introduce her divine, dazzling glory? A party of degenerate morons, that was! She had razed so many of those to the ground... "When it comes to our invaders, though, I can see a few problems trying to pick them apart, at least the most dangerous of them. Targeting two Shicibukai at the same time will bring us directly under the WG's radar. Not that I hold any doubt we can make the "Immortal Raiders" very much dead in close combat, but this much of noise may make the Marines perceive us as a maximum threat to be dealt with immediately and swiftly. I don't think any of the presents wants an Admiral on our tail whilst we are plotting a jailbreak to their most notorious prison. Same deal with a rivalling Yonko". Aretha rose her hand, still shimmering out of the cheering energy; by making a V-shaped sing, two gigantic, flaring crests jutted out from it. "I've got a potential course of action. As a first act, we deal with the leader of those Hoodlums, Dragon D. Dexter, while he's alone and can't rely on so many of his allies. The invading force we've faced is so goddam heterogeneous, between Shicibukai and Yonko crewmates, that it will rapidly collapse without a figurehead. Second, once his head flails on a pike, we'll be waiting for the WG to accuse a massive blow or going all out against another of our Yonko rivals and we make our grand entrance in Impel Down with relative tranquillity. Does it suits you?" "Targeting the head would make our plans very obvious to the stronger members of the alliance. The Shichibukai and Jack Frost are our biggest threats. Why not take care of the weaker links? Slowly shatter the chains and watch them be helpless." Red suggested, with a menacing grin under his mask. "Well, the thing is, the dastardly warlords can't operate too closely to the damnable brat. And the other rookies aren't beyond us if we play this dandily." Dan commented on the plan. "I can kill the damnable brat myself, if you guys can keep the rest of his gang busy. He could barely handy my dandy self, let alone the diabolical me." "The brat won't stand a chance." He announced. "So let's figure out what that dastardly thug is up to, and kill him for what he did to Vicenzo. How does that sound?" "Though now that I'm thinking about plans, where the in the damnable hells have six, seven, and eight gone?" Licking his lips, Bill looked at Aretha and squinted his eyes, lips wet with a mere lick, he began, "Not only they have, also y-" "Now that's actually quite an action plan!" Clapping, Abel tilted his head and smiled, quickly interrupting Bill, who glared at him. Now they had been thinking together for sure, they were building a proper line of thought like they should, like the supposed co-workers that they were. Many of the Pirate crews that Abel had seen in his current or past lives sunk to the bottom of the ocean, drowned in their regrets and mistakes. To stick and thrive together came before ripping each other's throats out. Index finger up, Abel proclaimed. "In that case, dears, I can look for the other two-" Blue and white engulfed everyone's visions, Abel's body was whisked through this wave and flew into the distance, taking it along. Dust and rubble rose by the sides of the flash, which had taken a slash shape and sent gusts of wind everywhere, they covered part of the city. Clacking his teeth, Abel clenched the muscles of his left leg and flung it upwards, pushing the energy from around him and further into the sky, he kicked off a building and landed close where everyone was. The energy continued to drift off and exploded into a myriad of loud crackles, illuminating the naked skies. "Why does everyone keep interrupting me?!" Abel roared out, his eyes instantly setting over the supposed newcomer, precisely, they came from the sky, but not just from there. Steps resonated through the streets of Bohemia, men and women dressed in blue and white positioned themselves a fair distance from the Numerals. "BAAAHAAAAAAA!" A rough voice came into the vicinity, some air blasts birthed slightly above the buildings, signalizing the trajectory of a blur. The blur became the clear image of a dark kimono, but, most important a white cloak, its back with a prominent "JUSTICE" name imprinted on it. "That was courtesy of me students!! Sorry on that, we come 'n peace," Standing in front of everyone was Rear-Admiral Bambina, he gestured for the soldiers that accompanied him, "They don' even have weapons, we 'ere to talk!" Bill clapped and roared in laughter. "BIRURURURURURURU!! Ey' fuckin' marine eh?!" His green eyes settled over Bambina's form, the latter's green eyes glared into Bill's own, both simply kept their grins. "...Rear Admiral Bambina!? What are you doing here?!" Red took up a defensive stance, curious as to his intentions. A Marine not being hostile towards Pirates..? That just couldn't be possible. With mouth and eyes wide open, Aretha tilted her head on the left. Her daughters did the same, necks leaning toward the right, with an utter expression of disbelief plastered on their faces. "W-what the fuck... the fuck... the fuck..." Aretha repeatedly cursed as if she was uttering a mantra. Something wrong was going through her mind, for her lips trembled, and red veins popped on her eyes. Her aura was swelling up dangerously, its embrace flowing through the crowd of shocked citizens until it engulfed the plaza. Aretha strolled by the Marines. She began laughing, so everyone from Bohemia laughed. Then Aretha suddenly stopped laughing. Then she grabbed a random Marine by the leg and tried to clobber Bambina by swinging the poor schmuck like a baseball bat. "THIS. IS. MY. MOTHERFUCKING. ISLAND. YOU. MOTHERFUCKING TRESPASSEERRRRSSS!!!" She screamed, raising tornadoes with her swipes and tried to chasing Bambina down the entire Bohemia. "I don't give two shits about your fucking peace offering: Bohemia is the territory of the Siren, a crowning jewel of independence freed by the yoke of the WG! And we do not welcome any of the Celestial Dragon lapdogs! NEVER!!!" The fury behind Aretha's voice was beyond palpable; it almost scorched the air around even more so than the pulsing mass of crimson aura. The Siren Four trembled in terror, for they know that this blistering hatred bore profound roots. Marines had been responsible for the demise of Aretha's late husband, having left three of her daughters orphaned at tender ages. Such act spurred the Dreadful Diva to pursuit the path of revenge, leading her to find Raidne on a Celestial Dragon's vessel. Despite that, Raidne was feeling genuinely sorry for the soldiers involved, knowing how terrifying and unrelenting her mother's fury could be. Given the relative innocence of the Marines and the current needs to the Numeral, she would perform the role she could do best in the crew: acting as a pacifier. "Mommy," she began to meow, with a voice that, unlike the hellish cawing of her mother, was a balm for the ears. "Would you like to spare those Marines for me, pleeease? I have some new songs ready for the next number, and I would like to try them with a fresh new audience..." Raidne lowered her shoulders and widened her gaze, assuming the attitude of a little girl asking for candies or toys. Hearing her little girl talking like that made Aretha snap back from her clobbering frenzy and tear up rivers. Aretha raced toward her beloved daughter and embraced her tightly, showering her with open, unabashed affection. "Isn't Raidne the sweetest, cutest, most talent golden bun in existence?" Aretha voiced her affection almost thunderously. "ABEL, WHY DON'T YOU WANT TO MARRY HER, YOU MOROOON?!?" Dan sighed at the intrusion, now was not the time to fight the Marines. "Aretha, now is the dastardliest time to pick a fight with the Marines," he'll comment at the woman's fury, adopting a tired look at her antics. "At least her kids can calm her down." He mumbled at her outburst towards their nominal commander. "So what do you want, you dandy man?" Dan turned as he addressed Bambina, "Damnable Marines don't talk to Pirates without a catch. And sorry for Aretha, she does that sometimes." Bambina simply ran back to his spot in front of the marines' group, he had heard many tales on the Dreadful Diva, but, was not sure which were true or false anymore. "You're being annoying about it, not that I would otherwise." Abel crossed his arms, dodging Aretha's screams. "But, that's right... Marines talking to Pirates?" He uncrossed one arm to gesture towards the Numerals, then, at the Marines. Furthermore, the biggest audacity wasn't even attempting to talk with them, rather, coming there in their territory and even attacking one of them. Bill rolled his eyes at the scenes Aretha caused, the urge to hit the woman only growing and becoming more appealing inside his mind. Bambina budged not from his spot, though a single bead of sweat ran down the side of his face, the marines that accompanied him, however, had steam coming out of their heads. Bambina rose his palm towards the Numerals. "Bahaha! Before I present ye' me proposition..." Turning around, he was faced with his own Marines and yelled, "Payton, bring that!!" The group of soldiers behind him parted in the middle. It had been approximately four weeks following her promotion to Ensign and she found herself by Bambina's side. During the early stages of their conversation she kept to herself, but she felt now was as good a time as any to become vocal. "Bambina-sensei," she began, gaze falling upon each of the Numerals. "Is this necessary?" "BAHAHAHAHA!" Bambina crossed his arms, mouth wide and eyes closed. "Of course, Pay-chan!! This is for tha' greater goal, ain't it? For the man that raided yer home!" With those words out of the way, many steps sounded in the distance, way louder and heavier than those of the soldiers standing before everyone. As they had parted so there was a way, everyone could see about four large marines in the distance, they were hunched and seemed to carry an even larger box. The closer they were, more the ground rumbled under their wake, some of the marine soldiers rose one centimeter or two at each step. Once the large men neared Bambina, he gestured with his head for them to lay the box to his side. Their knees bent even more and a gush of dust flew off due to the box landing softly. Bambina was opening the box without a second passing by, he pushed its top off with a single finger and it crashed against the soil. Abel tilted his head, peering over from behind Bambina's shoulder at the content of the box. "Eh?" The corner of Bill's lips almost fell off his voice, "A buncha' rock?!" Even from afar, he easily saw the contents inside, earlier than the ones that were closer. "Okay, who wants ta' kill-" Bambina rose a hand. "Wait, Gunlock!!" His green eyes stared into Bill's own once again. "This ain't just a bunch of rocks," He eyed Abel behind him for a second and took a few steps away from him. "We been to Aurora during y'all's fight!! And this is..." Bambina licked his lips, expression acquiring a heavy and sharp tone. "...your comrade, Maaka, the Homunculus!!" "More things to kill them all over." Dan sighed. "As much as I hate to undervalue a comrade's death, this doesn't change what we have to do. Dexter has to die one way or another." A smile, Bambina rose one of his palms and held it in front of them. "See, kill Dexter!" His voice went louder, so that he would further keep their attention over him. "We brought the remains of yer ally here as an offer..." Bambina walked around slowly, raising his other hand as well so that the Numerals saw he ws up to no thing. "From th' background we have unveiled about all of ye', we've come to see that ya' not fully devote to Shiguma!" More steps, Bambina continued to speak. "Why not act on yer own..." He mused, eyes not leaving any of them, he glared at each. "...And by acting on yer own, y'all may also be up to an easier goal. Easier? Because..." Bambina finished walking and stood in front of all the Marines that filled the streets of Bohemia. Some soldiers swallowed dryly, fixing their clothes while shaking, he eyed the soldiers, then Payton, then the Numerals once again. ...Then, Bambina looked at the marines again, only to shift at the Numerals, another second passed by, he repeated the action while smiling. Abel cleaned some of his hair strands, brushing them with his hands, while Bill merely rolled his eyes and buffed out. "Just fuckin' say it." "Because our Marines're willin' to work with and pardon y'all for the time being, so that we take down the Popstar." FIN Category:Role-Plays Category:DamonDraco Category:Dal101 Category:Ash9876 Category:Tabor gorilla Category:EmperorSigma Category:Finished Role-Plays